Polymorphic Crystallization of Metal-Metalloid-Glasses above the Glass Transition Temperature

Crystallization of metal-metalloid glasses is known to proceed by nucleation and growth processes. Using crystallization statistics in partially crystallized glasses, at temperatures below the glass transition temperature, time-dependent heterogeneous nucleation has been found to occur at a number of quenched-in nucleation sites [1]. Close to the glass transition temperature crystallization proceeds so rapidly that partially crystallized microstructures could not be obtained. Initial results from fully crystallized glasses exhibit evidence for a transient homogeneous nucleation process at higher temperatures [1,2].